[CW:MONTHLY] Endorsements: A Journalistic Obligation?

By Mallary Jean Tenore
Courtesy of The Poynter Institute

When members of The Concord (N.H.) Monitor's editorial board met to assess the 2008 presidential candidates, they reached a unanimous agreement: Mitt Romney should not be the next president.

So the paper published an anti-endorsement on Dec. 22, calling Romney a "phony" and "a disquieting figure who sure looks like the next president and most surely must be stopped."

One week later, the paper ran its traditional endorsements, encouraging readers to vote for John McCain and Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's New Hampshire presidential primaries.

Despite research challenging the effectiveness of endorsements, many news organizations embrace the tradition because, as they see it, endorsing candidates is a journalistic obligation to readers.

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